The day wore on. They walked down a hill that looked lush and green. Solor led his horse alongside them, with the three young men following close behind.
Beside them, visible in the distance, lay a vast savanna grassland enveloped in a thin veil of fog down below.
Slowly and leisurely, they stepped onto a gentle decline covered in soft grass, where tree roots now grew sparse.
"Why didn't you tame that deer, Sir?" asked Handoko, neatly dressed once again, looking fresh with his hair flowing loose as he walked alongside Solor's horse holding his spear.
Solor kept his eyes on the ground, watching his step as his hands held the horse's reins. "I told you, it might be a beautiful animal, but it's actually a mystical entity. Ah, I don't want any business with supernatural creatures. I'm no expert!"
Joko, who was walking behind Agniran, chimed in, "Why didn't you tame that crocodile instead, Sir? At least it's a real animal, unlike the Dadung Kawilis..." His deep voice resounded, accompanied by a subtle smile hidden beneath his thick brows as he kept his eyes on his footing.
"I don't want to go hunting for ducks to feed that crocodile, let alone buy a goat." Solor raised his hand. "I don't have the money," he said in a high-pitched voice.
"So, the Dadung Kawilis can't be owned by just anyone?" asked Handoko, who was also watching his step as they descended the slope.
"Yes, obviously."
A short while later, they arrived at the border of Lataran Ijo. They gazed at an immensely vast expanse of savanna grassland, rolling and rippling like an ocean of green grass shrouded in a thin mist.
They stopped under the shaded canopy of a giant rain tree. Its roots jutted out from the ground, though not as densely as in the forests of the Lumut Mountains.
"Phew... Finally made it..." Solor sat down on a root protruding from the ground around the giant rain tree. He raised his legs, resting the soles of his sandals on the root, while holding the saddle strap with his elbow resting on his bent knees. "Time for us to part ways..."
His face stared far ahead toward the vast savanna, which resembled a sea of grass.
"Where are you heading, Master Solor?" Agniran walked over, standing behind Solor.
Solor nodded, then hopped off the root. "We can't travel together anymore... I have business to attend to," he added.
Handoko approached Solor, who was adjusting his horse's saddle. "Sir, is Lataran Ijo really just a endless stretch of grass like this?" He looked down at Solor. "Then what is out there?" He pointed his spear toward the vast grassland.
Solor stood facing his horse, but turned his head toward Handoko. "Yes, just like this." He scratched the side of his neck. "Lataran Ijo is massive. There's nothing out there except a grassy plain!"
Agniran frowned. His forehead was tied once again with a black headband, revealing his short, center-parted hair swept slightly to the side. His eyes scanned the nearly endless grassland.
Ki Wandarimo suggested I go to Lataran Ijo, so what am I supposed to do now? Should I tell them what was given to me? Agniran thought to himself.
Solor mounted his horse and turned toward the three of them. "Well then, this is as far as I go..."
"Wait, Sir!" Agniran stepped forward, raising his right hand to signal Solor to stop. His mouth parted slightly as he inhaled the surrounding air. "Is it true there's nothing out there?"
Solor smiled at him. His horse, not yet ready to bolt, shuffled backward. "Well, if you don't believe me, go see for yourselves... Lataran Ijo is vast. I hope you don't get lost..."
I wonder if Wandarimo really gave him the plaque. Even if he did, how dare he hand it over? What for? Besides, they're too young to know about this... I need to leave them be and let them continue their journey alone... Solor thought.
Agniran stepped closer to Joko and whispered something to him.
"Alright, I'm off." Solor pulled the reins, waving his other hand in farewell. Slowly, the horse broke into a run, carrying him away.
"Now!" Agniran shouted.
Agniran sprinted forward with Joko close behind, followed by Handoko as they chased after Solor's horse.
Realizing they were pursuing him, Solor dug his heels into his horse's flanks and squeezed his knees tight to surge forward at top speed.
As Solor's horse galloped fast, the three fell further and further behind. "What are they planning!" Handoko muttered, panting heavily as he ran as fast as he could behind his two friends.
The wind picked up, the sun climbed higher in the sky, and the thin mist gradually faded away. The three of them kept running with all their strength, chasing Solor, who was vanishing into the endless grassland.
By midday, they were still running relentlessly, pursuing Solor's dwindling silhouette until it shrank and was swallowed by the distance. They were running through a green ocean without shores.
The scorching heat of the midday sun drained their energy until they were forced to stop, breathing heavily. Handoko collapsed into a seat. They stared helplessly at Solor's fading figure as it blurred and disappeared completely.
Thump! Joko collapsed onto his back, sprawling his arms and legs wide, followed by Agniran, who lay down while staring in the direction where Solor had vanished.
"Is there really not a single tree here?" Handoko asked, sitting with his legs open. His spear lay forgotten on the grass.
"It's useless, Ag. We can't catch up to him." Joko's narrow eyes closed, his chest heaving as he lay on his back atop the ankle-high grass that swayed in the gentle breeze.
Agniran propped his back up with both hands, his legs stretched straight out. "I didn't expect a horse that small to run so fast!"
"What do we do now?" Handoko yelled, unwrapping his jarik cloth and draping it over his head as a makeshift hood.
"We keep going that way!" Agniran pointed toward the spot where Solor had disappeared.
"Really?! We can head out there, but will we be able to find our way back to the edge?" Handoko walked over to where Agniran was sitting. "Lataran Ijo is huge, Ag... We should have brought supplies..."
Agniran stood up. "Alright, let's head back to the edge first then."
"Let's go," Joko said, walking past them with his body wrapped in his jarik cloth.
They resumed walking with their bodies covered in jarik cloths to shield themselves from the scorching sun in that green ocean. Panting once again, they eventually settled into a slow pace.
"I didn't expect Lataran Ijo to be nothing but grass either..." Agniran said, his head covered by his jarik cloth. His eyes stared straight ahead into the horizon.
"What was your plan once we got here anyway?" Joko replied, his head also hooded in his jarik as he stared at Agniran's back.
"I don't know. I thought there would be something here..." Agniran answered, continuing to walk without turning around.
They navigated the boundless sea of grass. After a while, the heat of the day grew even more oppressive. They decided to rest for a moment.
"Here," Handoko offered the water flask to Agniran.
They sat in the endless grassland, beneath the vast expanse of blue sky as a gentle breeze blew by.
"My head is spinning." Joko lay on his stomach, turning his face to look at his two seated friends. "Grass everywhere."
"I feel like I'm walking, but the scenery never changes." A blade of grass caught in his mouth, swaying against his thick eyebrows.
"We were running with our backs to the Lumut Mountains earlier, right? So why can't we see them now?" Handoko's wavy hair fluttered beneath his jarik hood, his sharp eyes fixed on Agniran, who sat propping up his back.
"Maybe we went too far chasing Master Solor." Agniran untied his black headband. "I really thought there was something over there—a village or some place... That's why I chased him..." Holding the headband, his hand pointed toward where Solor had disappeared. He turned his face into the breeze, wiping his sweat with the headband as his short, center-parted hair fluttered in the wind.
"Are we lost?" Handoko asked.
"We just need to walk straight south." Agniran raised his hand, pointing in a direction.
"Is that really south?" Handoko looked up. The harsh sunlight filtering through his jarik lit up his handsome face. "The sun is tilting over there," he pointed toward the sun's position, "which means that's east... But which way is south?"
Agniran fell silent for a moment. "Alright, let's head east."
"That means we'll end up heading back toward the border of the Lumut Mountains..." Handoko replied.
At that moment, Agniran was utterly bewildered. Exhausted and suffering from the heat, despair began to creep in. His mind clashed between continuing in the direction of the long-gone Solor or turning back toward the edge—wherever that boundary might be.
"Alright, let's hurry..." Agniran stood up and took a step forward.
"Where are we even going...?" Handoko reached for his spear, using it as support to push himself up.
"We just keep walking forward; we're bound to hit the edge eventually..." Agniran's jarik fluttered backward in the wind as he moved.
"We need to be careful, Ag... This region isn't a place to take lightly..." Handoko caught up, his head hooded in his jarik, the tip of his spear tapping against the grass to match their footsteps.